Tell It to Me Singing by Tita Ramirez
Life is not turning out the way Mónica Campo intended. Pregnant with her first child and newly engaged to a nice guy, Mónica can’t stop thinking about her ex-boyfriend Manny, despite all the ways their relationship went wrong. But things get even more complicated when Mónica’s mother develops a medical condition requiring emergency surgery. On the eve of the procedure, her mother drops a bombshell: Mónica’s father isn’t the man who raised her, but rather her mother’s first husband Juan. Mónica is reeling from this news and soon embarks on a quest for answers. But is this shocking revelation true? Or has Mónica’s mother confused real life with her favorite tv show? As truths are gradually revealed, the story moves from present-day Miami to Castro-era Cuba to the jungles of Costa Rica. Bursting with humor and heart, Tell It to Me Singing is as lively and full of twists and turns as the telenovelas that inspired it.
Reviewed by Mary Kinser, collection development librarian, Whatcom County Library System
(Originally published in Bellingham Alive August 2024 issue.)